Spectres of Masculinity Manhood in Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories, 1860-1914 Anna S. Berger

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berger, Anna S. <p>Anna S. Berger, Universit&auml;t Augsburg, Deutschland</p>, Author.

Series:

GenderScripts: Literaturwissenschaft & Geschlechterforschung

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Masculinity.

Ghost Story.

Identity.

Literary Studies.

Local Subjects:

Masculinity.

Ghost Story.

Identity.

Literary Studies.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (274 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

tw8005 Berger, Spectres of Masculinity Manhood in Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories, 1860-1914

Place of Publication:

Bielefeld transcript Verlag 2025

Biography/History:

Anna S. Berger is a literary scholar and journalist. She works as a postdoctoral researcher in English didactics at Universit&auml;t Augsburg and as a journalist for the Schw&auml;bische Zeitung. Previously, she was involved in journalism education at Hochschule Magdeburg-Stendal. Her research focuses on Victorian literature &ndash; particularly Gothic literature &ndash;, comics and graphic novels, as well as critical media education.

Summary:

Why are so many ghost stories narrated by men – and what do these tales reveal about ideas of masculinity? Anna S. Berger explores how Victorian and Edwardian supernatural fiction reflects anxieties around imperial decline, compulsive heterosexuality, domestic instability, and shifting gender roles. From haunted houses to colonial outposts, male protagonists face spectral challenges to the imperial masculine ideal, paternal authority, and male rational control. By drawing on works by authors like Rudyard Kipling, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Arthur Conan Doyle, this study reveals the ghost story as a site where normative masculinity falters – and alternative visions of male identity emerge.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

Acknowledgements

Introduction

The Ghost Story as a Genre: Entertainment, Uncanny Minds, and the Political Dimension of Haunting

Political Bodies: Empire, Englishness, and the Ideal of Imperial Masculinity

The Structure of this Book

Chapter 1

Remnants of the Past: History, Architecture, and Gendered Domestic Spaces

Female Spaces, Monstrous Women, and the Effeminising Effect of Ghost‐Seeing in Charlotte Riddell's "Nut Bush Farm", Lettice Galbraith's "A Ghost's Revenge", and Algernon Blackwood's "The Empty House"

Charlotte Riddell "Nut Bush Farm" (1882)

Lettice Galbraith: "A Ghost's Revenge" (1893)

Algernon Blackwood: "The Empty House" (1906)

Chapter 2

Closeted Desire: Secrecy, Disclosure, and the Ghost Story

Homospectrality and Queer Men in Vernon Lee's "Winthrop's Adventure" and Henry James's "The Real Right Thing"

Vernon Lee: "Winthrop's Adventure" (1881)

Henry James: "The Real Right Thing" (1899)

Longing for the Female Sexual Body: Elizabeth Gaskell's "The Poor Clare" and Edith Nesbit's "The Ebony Frame"

Elizabeth Gaskell: "The Poor Clare" (1856)

Edith Nesbit: "The Ebony Frame" (1891)

Chapter 3

The Construction of a Myth: Displays of Manliness in Imperial Adventure Fiction

The Gothic Twist: Failing Men in Imperial Ghost Stories by Amelia B. Edwards, Rudyard Kipling, and Arthur Conan Doyle

Amelia B. Edwards's "The Phantom Coach"

Rudyard Kipling: "The Mark of the Beast"

Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Brown Hand"

Chapter 4

Ghostly Punishments: Supernatural Forces and the Limits of Scientific Epistemology in Bram Stoker's "The Judge's House" and Lettice Galbraith's "In the Séance Room"

Bram Stoker's "The Judge's House"

Lettice Galbraith's "In the Séance Room" (1893).

Spectral Revelations and Manly Sentiment: Margaret Oliphant's "The Open Door" and Rudyard Kipling's "They"

Margaret Oliphant's "The Open Door" (1882)

Rudyard Kipling's "They" (1904)

Conclusion

Bibliography

Primary Sources

Secondary Sources.

Other Format:

Print version: Berger, Anna S. Spectres of Masculinity

ISBN:

9783839440568

OCLC:

1545682212

Publisher Number:

9783839440568